Play It Again Sam: The Sekonic L-208

Back in 2016, I wrote about a little light meter I bought to use with my Canon P rangefinder; the Sekonic L-208 Twin Mate. The Twin Mate looks 1950s or 1960s vintage, but it’s still being made today and retails for about $129. I’ve been using a meter-less Nikon F for the past few weeks and I’ve been taking the Twin Mate along with me to occasionally check my Sunny 16 skills. I had forgotten how useful this meter is and how it helps you really visualize f/stop and shutter speed combinations.

The L-208 is powered by a CR2032 3 volt battery, which has been in my meter for seven years and still going strong.

You can measure both reflective and incident light by sliding the little diffuser on the front of the meter. Set the ISO of your film on the face of the meter and press the little button. The red needle registers the amount of light. Turn the calculator dial until the green pointer and the red needle line up and read any number of aperture and shutter speed settings. Easy peasy. The numbers on the L-208 are clear and large enough for my old eyes. And every light meter reading is a little photography lesson.

The meter also comes with a hot shoe attachment, so you can mount it on your camera if you so desire. There’s also a lanyard so you can wear it around your neck. I just slip mine in my pocket.

The Sekonic L-208 Twin Mate is one of those products that just works and works well. And that’s why I’ve given it another shout out.

One Photograph: Father & Daughter

I was lucky to have lived on a thin sliver of land between the Pacific Coast Highway and miles of walkable beach for nine years. I am so grateful for that time. There was hardly ever an instance that I did not take a camera with me on those walks. One of my favorite things to do was sit down on a big piece of driftwood, watch people go by and take a photograph or two. It was beach “street photography.”

I wish I could say that Father’s Day is a happy day for me, but it is not. That’s all I will say about that. Still, this photograph I made with my Leica MP and 50mm Summicron on Kodak’s lovely T-Max 100 film reminds me to wish all you fathers out there a happy day this Sunday.

One Photograph: Airport Window with a Leica R4s

I listen to the 70s channel on SiriusXM radio more than any other. I identify with the music of that decade and those are the songs that stir the most memories and feelings for me. Sometimes, I hear a song that binds itself so tightly to a particular moment in my life that listening to it transports to that time and head space. Looking back through 14 years of my film photography, there are images that do that for me as well.

In November of 2019, I had returned home to Upstate New York to visit my parents. Returning to my hometown, the house I grew up in, even sleeping in the same bedroom I occupied as a kid always has an emotional impact on me. Even though I have not lived there since I was a teenager, it is where my roots are. I will be sad when my parents pass away, that house is sold and there is no longer a real reason to visit.

While I was there, something that I had hoped for in my life began to fall apart and near the end of my trip, I went through some very dark days. I had brought along my Leica R4s, 60mm f/2.8 Macro-Elmarit and a few rolls of Kodak T-max 400 and decided that a walk somewhere and some photography might settle me.

I borrowed my Dad’s pickup truck, grabbed the Leica and headed down to the small airport where, long ago, I had learned to fly airplanes. Tri-Cities Airport in Endicott, NY was built in the 1930s and served as the primary airport for the Endicott/Johnson City/Binghamton area until the 1950s. Many of the buildings including a big hangar and the administration/terminal building were built by the Works Progress Administration and had an art deco flavor. By the time I began learning to fly in the mid 1970s, commercial flights had long gone to the new Binghamton airport, but Tri-Cities had become a busy and vibrant general aviation airport with three flight schools and a charter service. I worked part-time at one of the flight schools, washing airplanes, answering phones and whatever else needed done. I was paid $1.50 per hour. When I earned $27, I redeemed my pay for one hour of flight instruction in a Piper Cherokee 140. I soloed on my 16th birthday, flying a plane by myself before I drove a car by myself.

As was the case with a lot of industrial areas of the Northeast, time was not kind to the area or to Tri-Cities Airport. The Endicott Johnson shoe factories closed and IBM, which had become the area’s largest employer, began moving operations and employees out of the area. Over the decades, the Village of Endicott struggled with much needed expensive repairs on the aging WPA buildings at the airport. One by one, the old relics had to be demolished. One of the few remaining original structures on the field, the old airport administration and terminal building, was abandoned many years ago. When I was learning to fly, this building was the social center for the airport with a big pot of coffee always brewing and young and old pilots sitting around the lobby doing lots of hangar flying.

It was a different scene the day I visited with my Leica. The nearly deserted airport, the empty terminal building with its broken windows and a biting November wind were perfect companions for the darkness I felt that day. A feeling that the best days, my best days, seemed at that moment in the past. I stopped to peer into the empty, lonely, nearly forgotten building then stepped back to capture my reflection in the glass.

Abandoned Terminal Building, Leica R4s, 60mm f/2.8 Macro-Elmarit, Kodak T-Max 400

I was in that horrible dark funk for the next three months and then, as has happened so many times in my life, my world righted itself and things began getting better. Actually better than I could have ever dreamed possible.

Here are some historical photos of my little hometown airport.

Robinson Airlines DC-3 at Tri-Cities Airport. Robinson Airlines became Mohawk Airlines which became Allegheny Airlines and eventually US Air.

Robinson Airlines staff and Village of Endicott representatives as Robinson launches DC-3 service from Tri-Cities Airport. (Photo Credit: Tom Reynolds)

A promotional image from Robinson Airlines. DC-3 at the gate at Tri-Cities Airport.

The main hangar, built by the WPA, This photo was taken in 2001. The hangar was deemed structurally unsound and was demolished some time later. (Photo Credit: Paul Rosales)

What’s left of the once proud administration and terminal building at Tri-Cities Airport (Image Credit: Google Maps)

One Photograph: The Superstition Mountains with a Nikon D70s

Although I have mostly been a film photographer, digital cameras have found their way into my life from time to time. My recent acquisition of a Fujifilm X-T1 got me thinking about all of the digital cameras I’ve owned. My first, was a Nikon D70s that I bought new in 2007. Ironically, that was the year I bought my first cell phone with a decent camera built in…the original iPhone, iPhone 2G, iPhone 1…it went by various names. I rarely used the camera in my first iPhone, but I did shoot a lot of pictures with my D70s. Here is an image from March of 2008, taken at the start of a day hike into the Superstition Mountains in Arizona. As I recall, my lens of choice at that time was the AF-Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6D

Desert Fence, Superstition Mountains, Arizona

The Nikon F - Third Time’s The Charm

I have had an odd relationship with the Nikon F since I began seriously dabbling again in film photography. I believe I have owned three of them since 2010. The first, a Photomic FTN was given to me and was a hopeless wreck of a camera. Jammed shutter, dead meter and a bit of fungus inside. I sold it for parts on eBay. The second I found at a camera store. A lovely black body with the FTN finder. I sent it off for a CLA and it came back good as new. I shot one roll with it and just did not get along with the weight and size. It was a nice camera though and I sold it for enough to recoup my original cost and the service.

I assumed that was the end of my flirtation with Nikon’s original SLR until I happened to be scrolling on Facebook and came across a gentleman in the midwest who restores Nikon F bodies as a hobby and sells them at a reasonable cost. He specializes in the F with the standard eye-level prism finder, a configuration I had never given much thought to before. Mostly because I am lazy and love having a meter in the body of a camera, especially one that allows aperture priority auto exposure. But I’ve certainly shot Sunny 16 many times and there’s a box in the closet with a half dozen or so hand held light meters. So I kept scrolling back to his post and an especially nice looking chrome body. You’re never quite over gear acquisition syndrome and mine kicked in. A little PayPal and a few days of waiting, and my third F landed on the front porch.

For no reason other than I am nut, I wanted an F with the Nippon Kogaku Tokyo logo on the top plate rather than “Nikon”, which this 1963 model has.

Handling the F with the eye-level prism was a bit of a revelation. While still heavy, the camera is smaller and feels very well balanced with my Nikkor-H 50mm f/2 lens mounted. A freshly serviced Nikon F has a very pleasing shutter sound and smooth film advance. I tend to bond with a camera pretty quickly and this one inspired me to want to get out and take some photographs…which is what a camera is supposed to do

I am trying to shoot up all of the expired black and white film in my refrigerator, so I grabbed a 24 exposure roll of Kodak T-Max 400 with a 2020 expiry date, tossed the F in my camera bag and took the dogs to the beach for a bit of splashing around.

Nikon F, Nikkor-H 50/2, 1901 Eggleston leather strap, Think Tank Retrospective bag

As is usual, the Sonoma California coast was a mix of fog with occasional sunlight poking through. These wonderful shafts of sunlight in breaking fog are called “fogdogs”, the inspiration for the name of my blog.

I set the F’s shutter speed to 1/500th of a second and messed around with apertures from f/16 to f/11. The viewfinder of the Nikon F is big and bright and it was refreshing to have only the scene in front of me in the viewfinder. No distracting needles or LEDs. It was carefree shooting. I really didn't think I would nail my exposures, I was just having fun shooting. And the dogs were enjoying themselves too.

There were a decent number of folks walking and enjoying the day. I got some interesting shots through the fog and sea spray.

I have to admit, it was really very liberating to shoot with this basic, minimalist camera. It is easy to see why the Nikon F is a legendary camera and a game changer when it came out in 1959. It certainly took me many years and three bodies before I found the Nikon F configuration that speaks to me. And it was nice to know that I could still rely on my brain to meter my shots.

Of course, I finished off the roll with a mirror selfie.

A Walk in Armstrong Woods

Every few years, I take a camera for a walk in Armstrong Woods, a grove of redwoods just outside of Guerneville, CA near the Russian River. I always try and capture the majesty of these giant trees, some over a thousand years old, but I never do the place justice. I don’t think a man and a camera can.

It’s dark and damp on the trails that wander around the bases of these trees. Light plays down in shafts, tickling the branches above and on the clover below. The light here fools even the hardiest of light meters, but I think the one in my Canon A-1 did a decent job on some nearly expired Kodak ColorPlus.

There are always a fair number of people in the preserve, but everyone speaks in hushed tones as if they were in church. The grove feels like a holy place.

I sent my Canon A-1 in for service about a year ago. Jim Holman at ICT did a nice CLA on it and got rid of the annoying Canon squeal that so many A-1 and AE-1 Canons have. I only shoot this camera a few times a year but always enjoy the experience.

Canon A-1 with 50mm Canon f/1.4 FD lens

A Roll of ColorPlus

I had a roll of Kodak ColorPlus 200 in my Nikon FM2n for most of late winter and early spring. I am considering using my Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera for color work moving forward and using film for black and white. Color film is getting so expensive and the availability of my favorite emulsions is not always dependable. We’ll see. I’ve owned my FM2n longer than any other camera in my collection. It’s a reliable camera that always delivers good results and a pleasant shooting experience.

The hills above Napa still show signs of past wildfires

I shot this old Chevy on the fly. I should’ve paid more attention to my focus.

Palm trees in Yountville, CA

Sunday brunch

From the Rutherford hills looking south down the Napa Valley

Thirteen Springs on Ektar

Since moving to California, Kodak’s Ektar 100 has found its way into one camera or another each spring. Looking through thirteen years of images reminded me that I need to pick up a roll or two before summer arrives.

Film Dog

I suppose the thought occurred to me first when, late last year, some of my favorite films were out of stock everywhere I looked. No Portra 400, no Pro Image 100, no Tri-X! And I thought about it again a few weeks ago when I visited one of my favorite camera shops and spent over a hundred bucks on a few rolls of film. As I got into my car and tossed the film into my camera bag, I did the math in my head. With processing and scanning, shooting my favorite C-41 film was going to cost me nearly $40 a roll all in. Photography as a hobby isn’t cheap and I have certainly blown wads of cash on expensive cameras and lenses, but as I see myself inching closer to retirement, I’m starting to become more frugal. The money I spent on this last batch of film kept poking at me. And not in a good way.

I am an old film dog but…I started considering digital photography. Again.

I’ve had my share of digital cameras and none of them have really given me the joy that shooting an old film camera does. I owned a Nikon D700 for a while and made some terrific pictures with it. But the Nikon DSLR was big and heavy and its controls and menus didn’t romance me, so I sold it.

Sonoma Coast, CA, Nikon D700 with Nikkor 50mm f/.14 AF-D

I also tried several Leica digital rangefinders, the M8, M9 and the Leica M-P (typ240). Those Leica lenses were spectacular, but I am not a rangefinder guy and I also always felt quite nervous carrying around that much money on my shoulder. Luckily, I sold every Leica I ever owned for a profit, so I recouped my investments after the Leica test drives.

Market Street, San Francisco, Leica M9 with 35 Summicron

So, was there a digital camera I could love?

I knew it needed to be small and light. I wanted a simple and easy-to-use photographer/camera interface with dials rather than multi-function buttons. Some digital cameras have menus that are science projects—I didn’t want to spend hours reading an owner’s manual. And because, based on my past history with digital, I wasn't sure how long this dance would last, I didn’t want to spend a fortune.

I considered the Nikon Df. I have many manual and auto-focus Nikkors and the Df reminds me a lot of my beloved Nikon FE camera. But I had taken a Df out on loan when the camera first came out and for no particular reason, the Df and I didn't gel. The new Nikon Z cameras sure looked nice, but the prices were all out of my budget. I also read quite a bit about the dizzying array of SONY mirrorless Alpha bodies. The earlier models were closer to my budget but I have read that the SONY menus can be confusing and that might discourage me.

My research eventually led me to Fujifilm’s X series of cameras, specifically the XT single digit DSLRs, aimed at pro photographers. The XTs are small, light, precise and made out of metal, reminding me of my favorite mechanical film cameras. The current model is the X-T5 and it retails for around $1700 which was more than I wanted to spend. The line started in 2014 with the X-T1 and you can find that camera on the used market from $300 to around $500. The more I read about the 16 megapixel X-T1, the more it appealed to me. Nine years is a long time in the digital world, but online reviews and You Tube videos convinced me that this camera is still a very competent performer and I could get into the Fujifilm X system with body and lens for well under a grand. As luck would have it, one of my trusted eBay sellers had a body for sale that belonged to his wife. It was well cared for and I picked it up for $350. I decided on Fuji’s kit lens, the XF 18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS that I found used at Camera West in Walnut Creek, CA for $325.

My new-to-me Fujifilm X-T1 with 18-55 kit lens

Once in hand, I was immediately impressed with how well made the X-T1 is. Engraved metal, nice body covering material and a generous and comfortable grip. Even with the 18-55 zoom out front, the camera is light, easy to carry and well balanced but feels substantial. I wanted to find my way around this camera without reading the owner’s manual and to my surprise, everything is very intuitive to a long-time film photographer. I charged the battery, set the camera to automatic and took the ferry out to Alcatraz Island on a beautiful Bay Area Saturday afternoon.

Once I get to know this camera better, I will do a more detailed review. On my first day out, I kept it simple. I think the camera did a fine job of autoexposure under different kinds of lighting situations. And I got some satisfying images considering I had no idea what I was doing.

Of all of the digital cameras I have tried, the Fujifilm X-T1 seems the most natural in my hands…reminds me most of my favorite film cameras. I definitely bonded with this camera. I love the electronic view finder, fast autofocus and the Fuji film simulations. It was set on Provia this day. There are also all sorts of “recipes”available to create simulations for other film stocks including Kodachrome. The menu is easy to navigate. And transferring images from the camera to my Mac was easy peasy. I carried my X-T1 in a new Think Tank Photo Urban Access sling bag, one of the best carry bags I have ever used. I will review that soon as well.

Also nice is that for about the same price as one roll of color film and processing, I picked up an adapter that will allow me to use all of my vintage Nikon lenses on the X-T`1. Similarly priced adapters are available for my Pentax M42, Canon FD, Olympus OM and Minolta glass as well. It will be fun trying my various vintage lenses on the X-T1.

I am not by any means abandoning film photography. I love my film cameras and I love shooting film. I might limit film use to black and white, processing and scanning at home. We will see what happens to the price of film. For now, this old film dog is learning some new tricks.

Film $$$

This weekend I visited a town near the California coast where I used to live and the mom & pop photo store that was one of my favorite haunts. I needed film and decided I wanted to give them my business rather than ordering online. I was surprised to see a very good selection of film…Kodak, Fuji, Ilford and Cinestill. They had just received pro packs of Kodak Portra 400. Last time I checked the price of Portra 400 pro packs, they were $78. This weekend, at the local store, they were $120! Needless to say, I did not buy the Portra. However, what you see below was $107. Film photography is getting very expensive.

Big Cameras

As a kid, I was fascinated by the technology of television production. Back in the 60s and 70s when I was growing up, you rarely got a glimpse of television cameras or other production equipment. Occasionally, directors would “break the fourth wall” allowing those of us at home a glimpse behind-the-scenes. Here’s Gene Rayburn getting testy with a cue card person on a Match Game program from 1976:

Match Game was produced at CBS Television City in Hollywood. The cameras you see in this clip were Norelco PC-70s. These cameras were manufactured by the Philips Company in Holland. When Philips wanted to sell their television cameras in the US, they were blocked from using the Philips name because its name was too similar to Philco, a US manufacturer of electronics. So, Philips used their Norelco brand (yes, same as the electric shavers) on cameras exported to the US. Ironically, some years later, Philips bought Philco. I was a pretty decent artist as a kid and remember spending hours with pad and pencil drawing television cameras from this era. These Norelcos were some of the first cameras I drew. I wish I had kept some of those drawings.

CBS used Norelco cameras in the 1960s and 70s because the other big television equipment manufacturer at the time was RCA. RCA owned rival NBC and there was no way CBS was going to put money into RCA’s coffers, so CBS bought a lot of Norelco cameras.

Over at NBC, you would occasionally get a glimpse of the cameras used by that network around the same time; the RCA TK-44. Here’s a shot of a TK-44 on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from the early 1980s:

My childhood fascination with television and radio broadcast production eventually led to jobs as a TV production assistant, TV cameraman, commercial producer and radio disc jockey. The first TV camera I ever used professionally was a TK-44.

Over the years, TV cameras got smaller and lighter. Today’s iPhone camera makes a much better picture than any of these early tube cameras, but I never lost my fasciation with them. So much so that around 2005, I got the crazy notion in my head of trying to see if I could find one of these old cameras to display in my office in my home in Arizona. I wondered, after all of these years, did any still exist?

After months of online archeology, I unearthed some old RCA TK-44 studio cameras that had been put away in storage and I negotiated to buy one. The shipping cost more than the camera. The one I bought came to me pretty beat up so I asked my Dad, who was retired and into restoring vintage cars as a hobby, if he would have a go at a cosmetic restoration of my TK-44. He agreed and did a fine job.

Restored RCA TK-44 studio camera in my home office

While doing all of the old TV camera archeology, as sometimes happens, one thing led to another. I ended up hearing about some more old TV cameras that were sitting in storage in Burbank, California. These cameras had seen duty at CBS and NBC and were close to being sent to the dump. The price was cheap enough, but these cameras and related equipment were far too heavy to ship. If I wanted them, I would need to move them myself.

The crazy continues as I find myself on a plane to Burbank, a cab ride to the Penske truck rental place and then to a storage unit near the Burbank airport. I ended up leaving that day with a Norelco PC-70, a RCA TK-47, two pneumatic pedestals, Vinten tri-pod heads, cables and some other odds and ends. As I drove all of this stuff across the desert in a rental truck to Phoenix, I thought…”what AM I doing?”

Norelco PC-70 from CBS (background) and RCA TK-47 from NBC (foreground)

Back home, I mounted the camera on their pedestals. The RCA TK-47 you see in this photograph was the successor to the TK-44 and was RCA’s last studio camera. These cameras are very heavy. It takes two people to lift them onto these pedestals. The camera bodies snap into heads that allow the camera operator to pan and tilt. Proper adjustment of the head makes the camera perfectly balanced so it can be panned and tilted with little effort. The camera body and pan and tilt heads sit on TVP P-50 pneumatic pedestal. With their tanks filled with air, the pedestals allow the camera to easily move up and down vertically. When everything is stet up right, operating one of these cameras is really quite fun.

For years I had these two cameras in the extra stall in my garage. My neighbors thought I was nuts. In retrospect, they were right, but it was fun. When I moved to California in 2010, my vintage cameras went to a broadcast museum.

Lost and Found: The Nikkor-N Auto 24mm f/2.8

I was digging through some of my photography odds and ends this weekend looking for a 52mm clear filter and found this lens I had no idea I owned. I think perhaps it came attached to a Nikon F2 I bought years ago, but I can’t be certain. I put it away and forgot I had it.

The lens is a Nikkor-N Auto 24mm f/2.8 non-AI lens that has been factory modified to AI.

In all my years of photography, I have only shot wide angle on Leica; the 35mm Summicron. And I did some good work with that lens. Now that this lens has resurfaced, I am going to try it out. Anyone out there have any thoughts about 24mm Nikkors?

The Nikon FM and The Joys of a CLA

For some time now, I have been on the hunt for a very nice, chrome, early edition Nikon FM 35mm SLR. There are lots of FMs for sale on eBay, but I wanted a copy with a serial number that started with a 2 and was a three-knurled-knob version. Why? Honestly, is there really any rational reason for those of us who enjoy analog photography and making pictures with cameras that are more than 40 years old other than…I just wanted one?

• During the production run of the FM from 1977 to 1982, Nikon released three versions:

• The three-knurled-knob version which has knurling around the collar of the shutter release button, the ASA/shutter speed dial and the rewind crank.

• The two-knurled-knob version, which has knurling around the collar of the shutter release and the ASA/shutter speed dial.

• And the single-knurled-knob button, which has knurling only around the ASA/shutter speed dial.

The knurling on the shutter release collar, ASA dial and rewind crank knob make it easier to turn these knobs and…well, I just think it looks cool. There were some other refinements to the FM over the production run, but in this hunt, I was simply pursuing the cool factor.

Knurling around the shutter release collar and ASA/shutter speed dial

Knurling around the film rewind crank

The Nikon FM is a fully mechanical camera. It replaced the Nikkormat FT3 and was designed as a smaller more affordable option to Nikon’s professional F-series cameras which at that time was the F2. The FM has a built-in TTL light meter which is represented in the viewfinder as a series of three LEDs, one for overexposure, one that indicates proper exposure and one that indicates under exposure. It’s Nikon’s classic 60/40 center-weighted metering. It’s nearly foolproof. Just center the LEDs and you’re all set. Two 1.5 volt SR44 or LR44 batteries power the meter. The camera operates just fine at shutter speeds up to 1/1000th of a second without batteries.

I searched eBay for a while trying to find the version of this camera I wanted and a copy that looked well-cared for. I’ve bought enough cameras online that I can get a feel from the buyers description, photos and feedback as to whether or not I should bid or buy it now. None of the cameras I saw resonated with me. One day, one of the friends of this blog wrote me and said he was selling a few cameras, including an FM. I asked for pictures and there it was…a nice chrome three-knurled-knobbed FM!

When the camera arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was in cosmetically very good shape. The shutter speeds all sounded good and the meter responded to light and seemed fairly accurate when I compared it to one of my hand-held light meters. This was however a 46-year old mechanical device and since I intended to keep and use the FM, off it went to Jim Holman at International Camera Technicians for a complete service.

I have used quite a few different camera repair techs over the years and in all that time, two stand out as simply superb; Sover Wong, the master of Nikon F2 repairs and Jim Holman. Both Sover and Jim do more than repair cameras, they completely refurbish them and bring them back to factory specifications. And both of these gentleman take detailed photos of the work they are doing on your camera.

Sover only works on the Nikon F2. Jim has repaired several Nikons for me as well as a Canon A-1. He services many other brands of cameras as well as lenses. I have a Pentax K2 that’s next in line to go to Jim.

I really thought my FM was pretty clean. It is amazing how much gunk collects inside after four decades. Here are some shots taken once Jim opened up my FM.

And of course, in any camera of this vintage, light seals and foams have mostly disintegrated. A lot of this stuff is the debris you see when you look through the viewfinder of an old camera.

As you can see, the camera got a complete tear down. As part of the process, my FM got new front leatherette panels installed.

As Jim was working on my camera, he gave me a call to tell me that mechanically, my FM was in really great shape. He said the shutter was very strong, the meter was pretty accurate and after a thorough clean, lube and adjust, this camera would last me for many years. Jim knows how much I love minty cameras and he tossed out an option that was hard to resist. He said if I wanted an absolute mint ++ FM inside and out, he would replace the top and bottom covers with new old stock, essentially giving me back as next to brand new as a 46-year old Nikon can get! I bit.

My FM arrived the following week, securely wrapped, looking and even smelling like a brand new camera. Here she is.

Nikon FM with 50mm f/1.8 AI-s Pancake lens and a 1901 Eggleston leather strap

Top view of the FM. I added a Nikon soft release and Nikon BS-1 hot shot cover to trick it out

Shooting an old mechanical camera is such a joy. Shooting one that has been refurbished and brought back to factory specifications takes things to entirely different level. The shutter speed dial on my FM now moves smoothly with nice, reassuring clicks. The film advance feels sublime. The shutter sounds so good. The viewfinder is crystal clear without any dust or debris. And yeah, I know the new smell is caused somewhat by the Pliobond adhesive that is used on the light seals, but I find it pleasurable.

The Nikon FM is a minimalist, easy to use, easy to love film SLR. The FM often gets overlooked in favor of the FM2 which offers higher maximum shutter speeds and a higher price tag or the FE or FE2 which offer aperture-priority auto exposure.

I have some Kodak T-Max 400 loaded in the FM right now and I’ve been shooting with both the 50/1.8 pancake lens and my 55m f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor. I just adore this camera!

Making pictures with a CLA’d film camera is pure joy! Photos coming soon.

Cameras & Coffee

Some random thoughts today…

BATTERIES—I have been using film cameras on and off since around 1974. My first camera was a Kodak Retina IIc which was a mechanical rangefinder with no on-board light meter. It did not need batteries. My second camera was a 1971 vintage Canon FTb which used a 1.35 volt 625-type mercury cell. Almost every camera I have owned since used some sort of battery. I mention this today because I am amused when I read social media posts from people who recommend fully mechanical cameras over ones with batteries because “you don’t need to worry if you are out in the field about your camera’s batteries dying.” In nearly 50 years of film photography, I have never had a battery die while out shooting. Now, I am not a professional photographer whose livelihood depends on my camera working nor do I shoot pictures when it is below zero out. But I have shot a lot of film in a lot of different cameras with batteries and have never had an issue. Watch, this weekend I’ll have one.

EBAY—I have been buying and selling on eBay since 2004. Lately, there seems to be a rash of people who bid on an item, win it and then don’t pay. I understand if every once in a while someone bids on an item and then changes their mind about the purchase. But this is happening more and more and bidders never even respond to messages asking why. What’s up?

Image courtesy of Ilford Photo

KENTMERE 100—Film prices keep going up. And my favorite emulsions always seem to be out-of-stock when I go to buy them. A few of my photographer friends have had good success with Kentmere PAN 100 film from Ilford, so I bought a few rolls. Price was $6.41/roll from B&H Photo. That’s not bad. Will be sharing results soon. It would be nice to have a go-to 100 speed black and white film that is reasonably priced.

Image courtesy of The Leica Store San Francisco

LEICA M6—Leica just released a new film camera, the M6. Well, actually, it is a re-release of an iconic camera from 1984. I owned the previous version of this camera, the M6 TTL for about a year. I bought mine from the Leica Store in San Francisco. I sold it to try a digital Leica M8. I deeply regret selling my M6. I made some of my best images with that Leica. Price for the new M6, less lens, is over $5,000. Needless to say, I will not be buying one anytime soon. Here are some shots I took with my M6 and a 35mm Summicron lens.

This was my M6. Yes, deep regret.

DOWN THE ROAD—I’ve made some really good virtual photography friends since I got back into film photography in 2010. One of the first film photography blogs I discovered was Jim Grey’s Down The Road. Jim writes about old cameras, forgotten stretches of highway and the life lessons he’s learned while exploring his passions. Jim’s blog, which he started 16 years ago, inspired me to start this one. If you haven’t already, you should go check it out.

The Nikon FE

I have a soft spot in my heart for cameras from the mid to late 1970s. It was then, during my junior high and high school years, when the seeds of my lifelong passion for photography were planted. These were the days when schools had camera clubs and we had a lively group of kids mostly shooting borrowed cameras from their parents or loaner cameras from the schools. I used my father’s Kodak Retina IIc rangefinder, but I lusted after Nikons.

Many people consider the 70s the glory years for Nikon. Their legendary Nikon F and the brand new F2 were the cameras of choice for legions of professional photographers. And in 1977, they introduced the FM, the first of the compact-F series designed to compete with the Olympus OM-1 and OM-2 which were romancing photographers with their compact size. In addition to wanting smaller, lighter camera bodies, the market also was moving towards exposure automation, so in 1978, Nikon introduced the FE.

The Nikon FE with 50mm f/1.8 AI-s pancake lens

The Nikon FE was essentially an FM with aperture-priority auto exposure. It’s a simple, durable, dependable camera with a top shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second. A camera made mostly of metal, available in chrome or all black, the FE was manufactured from 1978 to 1983 when the FE2 replaced it. The FE2 offered shutter speeds up to 1/4000th of a second.

I usually start my quest for a new camera on eBay, but on a hunch, I reached out to my friend Jim Holman at International Camera Technicians to ask if he had an FE for sale. Jim knows I am picky about the condition of the used cameras I buy and said he did not have a minty one in stock. He did however have a user condition body in the shop and would be willing to give it a complete overhaul and then replace top and bottom covers and other parts to essentially create a mint FE. That sounded sweet so I gave Jim the ok. The camera arrived a few weeks later, looking, smelling and operating just like it was brand new.

The FE and FE2 Nikons have my all time favorite viewfinder displays, just a simple analog needle readout that shows the shutter speed the camera has decided on for the aperture the photographer has selected. In manual mode, it’s a simple match-needle affair. Top of the viewfinder offers an ADR—Aperture Direct Readout, which is basically a little window that show the aperture selected on the lens barrel. Honestly, I think that the Nikon F3 would have been the world’s most perfect camera if it had the display used in the FE/FE2 and later FM3a.

The FE is pure simple analog joy to shoot. There’s a quality feel to all of the controls. The viewfinder is big and bright and easy to focus. The shutter sounds sublime. And it’s honestly hard to mess up a shot with Nikon’s classic center-weighted metering.

Cockpit of the FE: Everything you need and nothing you don’t

To round out my FE kit, I went looking for what has been called one of Nikon’s sharpest manual focus lenses; the 50mm f/1.8 AI-s Pancake. There are various version of this lens, but all of my research led to selecting the version sold originally only in Japan. These lenses have serial numbers starting with a 2. The USA version from the 1980s has more plastic, serial numbers starting with a 4 and only focuses to 2’ compared to the earlier version’s 1.5’. There was a also a much cheaper Series E version of this lens. All of the Nikon 50s are amazing lenses, but this one kept coming up as the sharpest of all. I bought mine from a trusted seller in Japan. I do love how compact this lens is…makes for a nice, lightweight kit. And it is really hard to beat the quality of Nikon’s manual focus AI-s lenses.

The Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AI-s Pancake Lens

I shot some Kodak T-Max 100 as my first roll in the FE.

I really enjoyed shooting the FE and with the little 50/1.8 Nikkor out front, it feels like a camera I could carry more often and make more pictures. That would be a good thing. My goal is to make more pictures this year.

As a footnote, prices for film cameras have skyrocketed over the past 18 months. It makes me wish I had invested some money and bought more cameras ten years ago when they were almost free so I could sell them today, get rich and retire. Oh well. That being said, the Nikon FE, as of this writing, is still a bargain with prices hovering around $100. Find a decent one and then invest in a CLA and this is a camera you could happily shoot forever.

Trying Cinestill 4ooD

My favorite color film, Kodak’s Portra 400, has been in short supply this year. And when I can find it, it is outrageously expensive. Kodak’s other color print films; ProImage 100 and ColorPlus have been out of stock quite a bit too. So I’ve been looking for an alternative. Recently, Cinestill released 400D. D stands for “dynamic.”

Cinestill’s website says that CineStill 400 is “a fine grain daylight balanced color negative film that delivers a soft color palette with natural saturation and rich, warm skin tones. The film has a wide dynamic range with a base sensitivity of ISO 400, but can be rated from 200 to 800 and pushed up to 3200. This makes the film highly versatile, usable both indoors or in the studio, under virtually any lighting conditions.”

400D is a completely new film and unlike Cinestill’s other color films, 50D and 800T, motion picture films with the remjet layer removed, 400D is a motion picture film that was produced without a remjet layer entirely, allowing it to be developed in C-41 chemistry.

I love shooting Portra 400 at 200 ISO. I find it produces nice saturated colors and pleasing grain. I was hoping to get the same results from Cinestill. Since it was my first time using this film, I shot it at box speed in my Nikon F100 and used my Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5 - 5.6 ED IF AF-S VR zoom. I took the Nikon with me for a walk around the neighborhood as the fall colors were at their peak in Northern California.

I finished off the roll getting a few shots of Rosie (our white Golden) and her friend Rosie (the black Lab) at the park.

Cinestill gave me impressive saturation and very warm tones. I think it has fine grain for a 400 speed film. Other than some cropping and contrast control, I did very little post processing of these images. It took me awhile to dial in Portra 400 and it’ll take me a few more rolls of this film before I am satisfied with my results. To that end, four more rolls are on order from B&H.

Expired Kodak TMAX 400 In The Nikon F4

I am obviously not taking enough pictures these days because I found a few rolls of Kodak TMAX 400 film hiding in the back of my refrigerator with an expiration date of last November. Finding the film was a good enough reason to get the Nikon F4 out and give it some exercise.

Even with its 1980s technology, the F4 is always a joy to shoot. Easy to hold, easy to shoot, easy to love. I have always admired the way Nikon did such a wonderful job of combining that latest tech of the time with knobs and levers to create a camera body that would gently ease photographers out of the mechanical camera era into what SLRs and later DSLRs would evolve into. I love my F4.

I used my AF-D Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens with the F4 set on program mode.

An 18-week old Golden Retriever puppy makes a great subject…

My desk…

Me…

Cameras & Coffee

2022 has been a busy year personally and professionally. I’ve shot less film this year than any since 2010. And when I take less pictures, I tend not to post here very much. I miss the creative process of photography and I miss writing here, so today’s post is the nudge I need to get writing again and using my cameras more. Every Friday, or maybe some other day if the mood strikes, I am going to pour myself a cup of coffee and fire off some random thoughts about analog photography. I’m calling it Cameras & Coffee.

Today’s post was inspired by a reader who found my blog while searching for information about getting into film photography. She asked which 35mm camera I would recommend for someone new to shooting on film. My email back to her is the content of today’s Cameras & Coffee. Perhaps something here will be helpful to someone trying to sort out which camera to buy.

CANON

I have used the A-1 and F-1 Canon SLRs and the Canon P rangefinder. The A-1 is a wonderful camera. Shutter and aperture priority modes, a program mode and manual mode. Better than the AE-1 which only offers shutter priority and manual modes. The AE-1 and AE-1 Program cameras are very popular right now which is driving up cost. The A-1 is a better camera and usually less expensive. The A-1 and AE-1/AE-1P eventually develop the Canon squeal..a weird wheezing sound when you press the shutter release. Camera works fine, just sounds crazy. Even though there are all kinds of You Tube videos explaining how to fix it yourself, it’s best to have it done by a qualified tech. It’s not expensive. I have seen people do it themselves and end up with oil everywhere inside the camera. The F-1, F-1n and New F-1 bodies were Canon’s professional grade cameras. Go for the New F-1 with the AE prism finder which will allow you to shoot in manual or aperture priory auto modes. All of the F-1s are built like tanks and rated at over 100,000 clicks on the shutter. These cameras take Canon’s FD lenses which are very good and not very expensive. The Canon P was one of the rangefinders Canon made before they got into the SLR market. The Canon P takes LTM (Leica thread mount) screw-on lenses. It’s a fully manual camera with no light meter. The P is a delight to shoot and the LTM lenses, made by several manufacturers including Leica are quite amazing in quality. If you cannot afford a Leica rangefinder, the Canon rangefinders would be the next best bet. I have never shot a Canon EOS camera so I can’t comment on those.

KODAK

Kodak was best known for film and Instamatic cameras, but from the 1930s to the early 60’s, Kodak’s German factory built some very well made 35mm rangefinders; the Retina line. I have only shot the Retina IIc. It was the first 35mm camera I ever used. Belonged to my Dad. All of the Retina models are finely crafted with superb lenses. They are not expensive but most will require some sort of tune-up before the function as designed, so figure that into your budget.

LEICA

Leica is a slippery slope. Leica cameras are special. Leica lenses are very very nice. It’s easy to spend a lot of money on a Leica kit. There are three varieties of Leica cameras. Leica Screw Mount: These were the first Leica 35mm rangefinders made from the 1930s through the 50s. They are also called Barnack Leica, named after the man who designed them; Oskar Barnack. Beautiful to look at and a bit quirky to load and shoot. If you don’t mind learning what you are doing with these cameras and fiddling a bit when shooting, the Leica screw mount cameras are an affordable way to get started with Leica. Leica M Rangefinders: The cameras everyone associates with Leica. There are several M models. I had three, the M2, M3 and M6TTL. They were wonderful cameras that I mated with a 50mm Leica Summicron lens. Made some of my most satisfying images with the M6, which Leica just re-introduced this month. If you love shooting rangefinder cameras and have the budget, you should aspire to a Leica M. Leica R Series: The Leica R series was Leica’s attempt at the SLR market. The line-up includes the R3, R4, R5, R6, R6.2, R7, R8 and R9. Some of the R camera were joint ventures with Minolta, some were solo Leica. When working properly, the Leica R cameras are wonderful. With the exception of the R6 and R6.2, all of these cameras incorporate electronics that can fail, rendering the camera useless. Parts are scarce and there are few techs left who will work on them. I have been lucky. I have owned the R3 through the R7 and never had any issues, but your mileage may vary. Leica’s R lenses used to be one of the most affordable ways to shoot Leica glass, but there are people who love adapted these lenses to cinema work and that has driven up the costs. Leica cameras hold their value and most of them appreciate. Every Leica I have purchased has resulted in a profit when sold, even after years of shooting.

MINOLTA

Only from the mind of Minolta. Back in the day, Minolta was a camera technology leader. This Japanese company made a huge variety of rangefinder, point-and-shoot and SLR cameras. I’ve only owned a few and my Minolta relationships have been love-hate. When the cameras are working, I love ‘em, but several I have owned have died instant deaths out in the field. Failed electronics. The X-700 SLR is very popular right now. Minolta sold tons of these back in the day so they are plentiful. And there are still some camera techs out there who can service them if needed. I have owned three X-700s and two developed issues. The one I have now is working just fine. I also had a XD-s. The XD cameras are very well made, metal bodies. The XD-s has a built in viewfinder diopter which is nice for people with aging eyes like me. Minolta makes fine lenses too.

NIKON

I am a Nikon guy. I have owned more Nikon cameras than any other brand. I have never had a Nikon die in the field. Never had a Nikon die anywhere. The only service I have ever had done on any Nikon is a CLA (clean-lubricate-adjust) for peace of mind. Nikon Professional Camera: These are the original F, F2, F3, F4, F5 and F6. I have just started shooing the F Photomic FTn. I had mine CLA’d and it is a wonderful camera to use. First roll coming soon. Some say Nikon’s F2 bodies were the finest mechanical SLRs ever made by anyone. I loved my F2s, but as my eyes have aged, I find I cannot find any suitable diopter to allow clear focusing. I have no idea why as I should have this same issue with my F, but don’t. The F2 bodies are very very nice and there are several different prism finders you can add to any F2 body that give you different metering an lens adaptability options. My Nikon F3 is the camera I will probably take to my grave. Nikon’s first electronic pro grade body and first with aperture priority auto exposure. The F3 oozes quality. Great choice for newbie film photographers. The F4 was Nikon’s first auto focus pro body and first one with matrix metering which is still used in digital Nikons. I love my F4 even with its slow 1980s auto focus technology. The F5 is a beast of a camera. I had one but it was too big. The F6 was Nikon’s last film SLR, sold new just until recently. Nikon FM, FM2, FM2n, FE, FE2, FA This is the line up of cameras that I most often recommend to people just getting into or rediscovering analog photography. These cameras were designed for advanced amateurs but many professional carried them as well…they are that good. The FM, FM2 and FM2n are manual cameras with built in meter. The FM2 and FM2n offered mechanical shutter speeds up to 1/4000th of a second! The FE and FE2 offer manual aperture-priority auto exposure modes. The FE2 gives you the option of 1/4000th of second top shutter speed like the FM2 and FM2n. The FA is the most technologically advanced body of this line with matrix metering and multiple exposure modes. It is also the one most prone to failure with all of its electronics. Nikon F100: The last Nikon SLR I will mention is the F100. The F100 was introduced in 1999. It’s an auto-focus camera with multiple exposure modes, matrix metering, built in motor drive and all kinds of other bells and whistles. While the F is not built to the standards of the F5 or F6, it packs many of the same features as those professional cameras. Because the F100 is not on most people’s radar, prices for this camera stay low. The F100 is a helluva camera for not a lot of money.

OLYMPUS

Small, lightweight SLRs with jewel-like quality, the Olympus OM single digit bodies are very capable cameras that exude quality and craftsmanship. I have the OM-1n and OM-2n. I love my manual everything OM-1n with a 50mm F/1.4 Olympus Zuiko lens. The OM-1 and OM-1n need a conversion to accept modern batteries. Many techs do this during a CLA. The OM-2 and OM-2n take modern batteries and offer aperture priority auto exposure. I would not hesitate to recommend either of these cameras.

PENTAX

Starting with the oldest first, the Pentax Spotmatic. If you really want to learn photography, these are the cameras to look at. The Spotmatic series was made from the early 1960s to the mid 1970s. They were one of the first SLR cameras to have built-in through the lens light meters. Early versions of this cameras use stop-down metering, meaning you stop the lens down to your taking aperture to take the light meter reading. This is a manual process that is cumbersome at first, second nature later on. It also lets you begin to understand the relationship of shutter speed and lens aperture to proper exposure. The later Spotmatic F cameras featured open aperture metering. The Spotmatics are very well built. If you find a nice one, it can be CLA’d very reasonably and will be faithful photographic companion for many years. The Spotmatics take M42 universal screw mount lenses. The Pentax Takumar lenses are extraordinary and most are very affordable. Many people adapt Takumar M42 lenses to mirrorless digital cameras. Pentax followed up the Spotmatic line with a new lens mount…the K mount and a new series of cameras; KX, KM, K2, K1000. These are essentially Spotmatic bodies that accept K mount lenses. I have the K2, which offers aperture priority auto exposure. I love my K2. Pentax also introduced a series of smaller SLR bodes that accept K mount lenses; the ME, ME Super and MX. the ME and ME Super offer auto exposure. The MX is a fully manual camera with built in light meter. Pentax also released a pro body, the LX, also using K mount lenses. The Pentax LX is an amazing camera with a great metering system, interchangeable finders and other accessories. The Achilles heel of the LX is its electronics, which have not aged well. I have owned 4 LX bodies and all of them had electronic issues that needed to be addressed. Luckily, Eric Hendrickson, the Pentax guru was still repairing the LX when I had mine. I understand he no longer does. The other issue is LX sticky mirror syndrome. Pentax used some weird bumper foam in the LX that, over time, turns to hard to remove goo. This caused the mirror to stick when the shutter is replaced.

IN CONCLUSION

There are a lot of great film cameras to choose from, but the reality check is that even the newest of these cameras is well over 20 years old. Just think of buying a 20 year old car. No matter how well taken care of, it is going to need some TLC, so budget in some service. Choose the simplest camera you can. Mechanical cameras are generally much cheaper to repair than ones with electronics. And there are more techs who work on mechanical cameras than electronic cameras. My personal picks for a starter camera would be any of the Nikon F series…FM, FM2, FM2n, FE or FE2, the Olympus OM-1 or OM-1n or a Pentax Spotmatic.

Happy Shooting!

Film Rewind

Working on my photo book and looking back through lots of images. This one is from September, nine years ago. I was using my Nikon F2AS, 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor on Kodak Tri-X. I was in Alamo Square Park in San Francisco, looking for a good vantage point to get a shot of the famed “Painted Ladies.” I lucked out that this couple was kind enough to provide some foreground interest.

I miss using the Nikon F2. For some reason, as my eyes have aged, I have been unable to find a suitable screw-in diopter for any of the F2 finders that give me clear enough vision to focus. It is the only camera that I have this trouble with. I am told that I could have an eyeglass shop make me a custom lens that I could fit into the Nikon diopter mount, but that seems like a lot of work. Oddly enough, my new-to-me Nikon F with a Photomic FTn finder with no diopter at all does not give me the same trouble.

Right back where I started from

I guess I have always been a Nikon guy. Back in the 1970s when I was learning photography with my father’s Kodak Retina IIc, I lusted after a Nikon F2. I remember looking at the ads in Modern Photography magazine, drooling over a camera I knew I would never be able to afford.

When I got back into photography seriously again twenty some years later, I finally could afford a Nikon and bought their top level advanced amateur SLR, the N90s. Shot a lot of film with that camera and also finally got around to building a real darkroom in my home.

Fast forward again another twenty years and we’re far into the digital age. I am living on the Northern California coast with so much beauty around me. I get the itch to start making pictures again and just for fun, check out film camera prices on eBay. To my amazement, an array of fabulous old film cameras can be found for next to nothing. I bid and win on my first one; a Nikon FE2 that began my re-entry to film photography.

From 2010 until now, I’ve tried Minlotas and Canons, a Contax, a Mamiya, Yashica, Rolleicord, Polaroid, Pentax, Kodak and Voigtlander. And I went deep down the Leica rabbit hole. It’s been an amazing and educational journey. The only regret I have is not having the vision to buy more old film cameras back in 2010 when prices were low. With the resurgence of analog photography, I could have made a nice profit today.

Other than Nikon, the only cameras I have left are the Canon A-1 and Minolta X-700. My Nikon collection consists of a FM2n, FE, F, EL2, F100, F3 and F4. I have a small collection of Nikkor lenses…some primes, my Micro-Nikkor and 70-300 AF zoom I recently bought for the F100.

I feel pretty content right now with my gear. I have film in my new-to-me Nikon F that recently came back from a full CLA by Jim Holman. I’m enjoying shooting this legacy Nikon more than I had expected. I still have to run the EL2 through its paces. And I am anxious to try the auto-focus version of the 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor lens I just picked up for a song on eBay on my F4. The manual focus version of this lens is one of my favorites.

I think it is interesting after trying all of these different cameras that I have come full circle to right back where I started from—Nikon.